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I / Camera (2011)
SD colour video, sound
3 minutes 28 seconds

excerpt - full video available by request.

I / Camera (2011) video stills

I / Camera (2011) observes the object behind the image. In this case, the first digital video camera owned by the artist. Cameras can produce mixed feelings and responses from pleasure, narcissism, performance, shyness, to a sense of violation or invasiveness. The language we use around cameras can be loaded, phrases such as “caught on camera”, “captured” or “shooting a film”, and sayings such as having our photograph “taken” rather than using words like “offering”, “sharing” or “participating in”.

I / Camera turns the camera back on itself and dismantles it, eventually taking the digital image to physical breaking point. Initially, the camera frames the artists’ image and its own, and both are defined by its physical attributes: the lens quality and pixel resolution of a standard definition digital video camera circa 2001. But as the video progresses, Stephanies’ gestures expose more of the workings behind the image. Wires and electrical connections are cut and disconnected until eventually the sound ceases and ultimately the camera fails to sustain an image.